Thursday, February 23, 2012

Shooting at Zombies

To make a ranged attack select one of your ranged weapons and a target and then roll a Nerve check. Compare the result to the Target DC Chart and apply the range modifier along with any miscellaneous modifiers. If the result equals or exceeds the total DC then the attack is successful. A successful attack allows you to roll once on the relevant Weapon Dmg chart - this is an important difference from making melee attacks ( in melee the attacker rolls one d6 on a Melee Weapon Chart for each attack dice that exceeds the defender's result). A successful ranged attack means that you have scored a solid hit on the target zombie and now you must roll on the Dmg chart to see if your shot was able to "kill" it.

Most weapons only allow 1 ranged attack per turn but some do allow multiple shots, how each works will be handled in the weapon description.

Miscellaneous Modifiers
Target inactive* -2DC
Friend in the way** +4DC
*Totally unaware and immobile.
**Either engaged in combat with the target or otherwise blocking the shot.

Common Firearms
Common firearms represent the guns most widely available for civilian use. They are relatively simple and mostly designed for hunting but are still quite lethal. Weapons used by Police or Military forces are much more dangerous but are also more likely to malfunction and are far more difficult to find in the post-outbreak world. Ammunition for common firearms is relatively easy to find whereas military grade ammunition is very scarce.

Pistol: This is a low caliber handgun which was widely available for civilian use pre-apocalypse.
Capacity : 6
Semi-automatic: A pistol may fire a number of shots in a turn up to it's remaining capacity, but each shot after the first takes a +1DC modifier which stacks.Pistol Dmg Chart
1-4 = No effect
5-6 = Critical

Double Barreled Shotgun: This is a simple 10 gauge, meant for hunting birds mostly. It's not pretty and it kicks hard but it sure is powerful. Comes in side-by-side and over-under barrel configurations.Capacity : 2
Kick : Double Barreled Shotguns take an additional +1DC on both the medium and long range increments. Double Barreled Shotgun Dmg Chart
1-3 = Knock
4-6 = Critical

The capacity of a ranged weapon is the number of shots you can take with it before it needs to be reloaded. To reload a ranged weapon you must pass a DC1 Nerve check, if you pass the weapon is fully loaded up to it's capacity, if you fail the weapon is not reloaded at all. You may not fire a weapon in the same turn you reload it unless specifically stated in the weapon description. You may only fire one ranged weapon per turn.

You may make melee attacks using a firearm- it will count as a Sturdy weapon. If a 1 is rolled and a firearm becomes Flimsy it will break and will no longer be able to function as a ranged weapon.

(a target-rich environment)

-|Note - shooting at a living target works a bit differently than shooting at zombies and will be covered in a future post.